This invention relates to machinery for processing poultry carcasses and in particular to the type of poultry processing machinery in which a poultry carcass is placed upon a cone-shaped mandrel carried by a conveyor past various processing stations.
The processing of poultry carcasses involves numerous processing steps which act to sever selected portions of the poultry from the carcass while minimizing the wastage of useable meat. A typical type of poultry processing apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,918, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The apparatus disclosed in this patent includes a conveyor on which a plurality of cone-shaped mandrels are affixed. The cone-shaped mandrel is designed to receive a poultry carcass and to maintain the poultry carcass in a fixed position as the mandrel and carcass are conveyed past various processing stations. This type of processing apparatus is particularly used in boning the breast of poultry. Typically a breast half-carcass is placed over the mandrel for deboning. The debone operation can be accomplished both with the wings attached or the wings removed. While on the mandrel, the breast meat is severed from the carcass by cutting through various tendons and cartilage. The breast meat is then torn free of the cartilage either manually by human operators or by automated equipment.
Whether the operation is performed by human operators or by automated equipment, considerable tension is placed on the bony parts of the carcass which often result in the carcass being torn free of the mandrel. When this occurs, the partially deboned carcass may fall to the floor or other non-sanitary areas causing both the carcasses and remaining meat to be condemned and thereby reducing processing efficiency. Even if the carcasses are not condemned, it may be necessary to rework the carcasses by hand resulting in increased labor and reduced meat yield.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the problems of the prior art by fixing the carcass in position on the mandrel through the means of a carefully positioned pointed pin. The pin is attached to the mandrel at such a location that the pin pierces the bony portion of the keel bone of the poultry carcass somewhere below the loose upper cartilage. The poultry carcass is therefore held more firmly in position during subsequent processing operations.